New Delhi: When India’s new Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar announced in his first official tweet that he is “proud to follow on [sic] the footsteps” of his predecessor Sushma Swaraj, he meant it. Within 24 hours of his Twitter debut, Jaishankar was already addressing concerns of distressed Indians who reached out to him for help on the social media site.
Manik Chattopadhyay, who comes from Kolkata and is presently working in Saudi Arabia, reached out to Jaishankar Saturday, seeking help. Chattopadhyay shared a video where he said if he is unable to go back to India he will die.
The minister sprang into action within minutes and asked India’s deputy chief of mission in Riyadh Suhel Ajaz Khan to keep him “apprised” of the situation. Khan assured help to Chattopadhyay.
Appreciate the prompt action on this Suhel @IndEmbRiyadh. Pl keep me apprised https://t.co/yGFyJDf1uJ
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 1, 2019
Chattopadhyay had uploaded the video on 15 May, but had been unable to get any help so far.
Another aggrieved Indian woman named Rinky (@Rinky43110125) also wrote to the minister, stating that her two-year-old daughter is in the US while she is in India and that she has been trying for over six months to get her back.
“Our Ambassador @harshvshringla is on the job. Please share with him all the details @IndianEmbassyUS,” Jaishankar promptly replied.
Our Ambassador @harshvshringla is on the job. Please share with him all the details @IndianEmbassyUS https://t.co/a55jI6XHiY
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 1, 2019
India’s envoy to the US Harsh V. Shringla also reached out to the distressed woman, seeking further details.
The woman had reached out to former minister Swaraj in March seeking her help in bringing back her daughter, who is now staying in the US with her father.
Outpouring of thanks for Swaraj
When Jaishankar’s name was announced as the new external affairs minister Friday, thousands took to Twitter to thank Swaraj for making the ministry easily accessible to the people through Twitter.
Jaishankar assured Indians, especially those living abroad, that the ministry would continue working for the people round the clock.
“We at Team @MEAIndia continue to be at your service 24×7,” tweeted Jaishankar.
We at Team @MEAIndia continue to be at your service 24×7
Happy to be leading the effort with my colleague MoS Muraleedharan ji @VMBJP
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 1, 2019
One of Swaraj’s biggest achievements was in 2015, when she was able to safely bring back 168 Indians trapped in Basra, Iraq, at the peak of ISIS insurgency, after seeing a video tweeted to her.
Swaraj had also once helped a woman replace her lost passport so that she could go on her honeymoon.
A 2016 article in the Washington Post had even called Swaraj ‘Supermom of State’ for her out-of-the-box efforts in helping Indians living abroad.
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